Consecration of the EU and its institutions to the Lord Jesus
We are happy, as members of the prayer groups meeting within the institutions of the European Union, to invite you – and all those who have the European Union at heart – to join us for a trilingual (French/English/Deutsch) ecumenical celebration during which the European Union and its institutions will be consecrated to the Lord Jesus.
Consecrating the European Union and its institutions, that’s a novel idea!
If you want to learn more about it, please see the attached document (presentation of the initiative and text of the prayer of consecration).
The celebration will take place on Saturday 14 May 2022 at 3 p.m. in Eglise du Saint-Sacrement, chaussée de Wavre 203, 1050 Brussels
Access : Train: station “Bruxelles-Luxembourg” ; Metro: “Trône” or “Porte de Namur” ; Bus: no 34, 38, 80 and 95, stop “Idalie” or “Museum” ;
(no need to have a Facebook account to follow the livestream!)
Scheme of the celebration: Hymn/music; welcome/presentation; readings from the Bible on consecration; commentary on the readings; intercessory prayers; hymn/music; prayer of Consecration (French/English/German); moment of silence; the Lord’s Prayer (each in their own language); closing words; hymn/music
You are also welcome to participate in the small reception (‘verre de l’amitié’) that will follow the celebration! Let us know whether you will join by completing the following form:
On 7 May at 2.30 pm with Ensemble pour l’Europe let’s celebrate Europe Day on the theme: “Europe: Artisans of Peace” Reconciliation and Solidarity.
Four approaches to solidarity will be presented through short videos made by our movements.
We will be privileged to welcome Pastor Walter Kriechbaum from Munich and his wife Anne-Marie from the international YMCA movement who will share with us some years of experiences of reconciliation undertaken in Germany, Poland, and Ukraine, with a view to healing the wounds of the Second World War. They will also give short teaching based on Scripture and faith in Christ, followed by a time of prayer. You are all welcome to attend the event organised jointly with Together for Europe at the Chapel for Europe (Rue Van Maerlant, 22-24 – 1040 Brussels). A live webinar will give the opportunity to intervene remotely during the exchange time that will follow. Information and pre-registration for the webinar
ENSEMBLE POUR L’EUROPE… …is a free convergence of Christian Communities and Movements from different Churches, currently more than 300 across the continent. While maintaining their autonomy, they work together towards common goals, contributing their own charisma. This reality is born of strong experiences lived together..
20 years of euthanasia in Belgium In May it will be 20 years ago that euthanasia was allowed in Belgium. Since then, 24,522 declarations of euthanasia have been registered. Euthanasia has been legalized for minors and some politicians want to allow it for people who cannot express their will. This way, the dignity of the elderly, people with dementia or who suffer from depression, disabled or sick people is systematically violated. It has also become clear in recent years that the Euthanasia Evaluation Committee doesn’t function properly and that the concept of psychological suffering is becoming increasingly vague. That is why some psychiatrists advocate a ban on euthanasia for psychological suffering.
Since the summer of 2021, together with a friend (Danny), we have been planning to organize a ministerial event that includes sports. We want to cycle from Ypres to Eupen over three days with stops in the Ronse and Tienen areas. We will start from the center of Ypres and we want to finish in the Eupen/lac d’Eupen area. The whole trip will go along the linguistic border between Flanders and Wallonia with the intention of praying along the way. We will pass through key locations and towns that ultimately will provide us with the necessary subjects to challenge the borders that we want to expose and bring attention to. We are planning to bike through the border points between Flanders, Wallonia and France in the west. We’ll go through the ‘Drielandenpunt’ (DE/NL/BE) in the east before finishing at lac d’Eupen. The reason for finishing there is linked with our desire to do a fundraiser for the flood victims. We’re looking into details in how we could support excisiting works that could benefit from this support.
Our broader vision is to find ways to use sports, to collectively bring the current borders to people’s attention. We intend to use the current and former physical borders as a platform, through informing of the past, creating an understanding of the present, to challenge people to review their worldview in a way that allows them to reconsider their position in certain matters in life. We believe in the kingdom principle of recognition and building together, despite what the past might hold. It can be a painful process to revisit the very beliefs and ways of thinking that we have allowed to shape us. But in these days we see the need of a renewal of the mind. Valuing and celebrating the kingdom values within our culture, yet challenge the areas that keeps separation and walls in place are necessary to go through in order to prepare the table for what the Lord wants to bring to our nation.
We intend to make the event open for both Christians and non-Christians, as we recognize that people whom do not belong to a church, also seeks to see reconciliation happen between the two regions. The ‘religious’ language of the tour will need to be adapted in a way that brings inclusion beyond religious beliefs. However, it will be made very clear that it is going to be a prayerful event that longs to minister reconciliation through prayers, intercession as well as acts of service. As long as this is made clear beforehand, the participants would know, to a certain level what they can expect. I personally intend to invite family members that aren’t Christians to participate.
Language is another important factor. Among our team members for the tour we have people who can speak and translate French, Dutch/Flemish, German and English. As the tour will go through various language borders, we will facilitate for the regional spoken language to be made available for translation where necessary.
We want to make part of this event public in the sense that we are planning daily video sessions of history lessons, to bring awareness to the people following the tour online. These will be filmed in the very place that the events take place, and we will use the history to ask one or two questions that could challenge the mindset of our followers. We will upload them on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. We have a team of videographers and photographers who will be part of the journey.
We are just about to make this event public, and we want to spread the word to churches and organisations in Belgium. If this would be something you would be interested in being part of, or know of someone who could have interest in this tour. Please don’t hesitate to let us know should you need any further information.
We are trying to make the costs for this as affordable as possible. We’re currently looking for housing opportunities for Friday and Saturday night. There will be a possibility of coming along for just one or two of the days, as we recognise not everyone would be able to set apart three days to join the full event.
It will start in Ypres at 11am on Friday 22nd of April and it will last until the evening of Sunday 24th of April. If necessary, we can arrange housing in the Eupen area on Sunday night.
We intend to bike roughly 100-130km per day. We will provide food and some snacks, but sport drinks and ‘fuel’ are to be arranged by each participant after personal need.
We will have a follow car with us for the whole tour that will bring about the basics of equipment.
It is possible to join for 1, 2 or 3 days, and the start and finish of each stage would be in the immediate proximity of train stations to facilitate connections.
A provisional routeplanning for the three days in the links below;
Nathalie and Henning Schikora, leaders of YWAM Cevennes in the South of France. They have been praying and working since 1995 to see the restoration of the prophetic well of the Huguenots there. And now the prophetic well is running! Since 2016 they have had prophetic schools. Now God is about building the prophetic highways to the 7 main nations where the Huguenots fled 300 – 340 years ago: South Africa, USA, Canada, England, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland.
CALL FOR JOINT PRAYER AND FASTING – 14TH OF DECEMBER 2021
24h online prayer initiative for Christians in Belgium
The corona crisis is giving heavy repercussions to our country. Now is a time to stand in unity and pray and fast together. Will you join us? We pray for healing of the sick, of confusion, division, fear, control, half-truths… The Bible describes a miraculous deliverance of Peter from prison as the people prayed continuously together (Acts 12:4). Praying together makes miracles happen. 24 different leaders from all over the country will each lead a one-hour prayer slot, in ENG, FR and NL.
It has been a long time since you received a mailing from Pray4belgium, but that does not mean that we had fallen asleep or stopped working: we had an internal reorganisation. Prayer and intercession remain important and crucial. Pray4belgium especially wants to promote and publicise national prayer initiatives, and network with all existing initiatives in our country. God has a plan with Belgium, and wants to bless, but He also wants to see people who stand up and cry out to Him for His grace and salvation.
The website of Pray4belgium has recently been updated: Go and have a look at our website! There you can find out what we do (or have done), but also find materials and tools to pray for Belgium: useful for your personal prayer life, and certainly also in prayer groups. For example, there is a brochure “The spiritual climate of Belgium: why and how to pray?” (30 pages), with 23 chapters explaining our country and 30 concrete prayer topics. Click for more explanations. Or a shorter text for your prayer time: a list of ‘spearheads’ in prayer, the key topics for our country.
There is also other good news: a prayer chain was already started in 2009 on the Flemish side, but in 2020 it has been completely reorganised and recently all its texts have been translated into French and English. This means that you can all join in the prayer for one of the seven ‘mountains’ (spheres of influence or sectors) of our country: (1) politics, government, justice, (2) economy and finance, (3) education and science, (4) culture and media/ entertainment, sports, (5) social and medical sector, (6) family, marriage and children, or (7) church and religion(s). So, when Paul calls us to pray for those in high places (1 Tim. 2:2), it applies to each of these areas. Do you join us?
How does it work? Each person chooses one mountain (or several), and is sent only those prayer topics for which he/she signs up, ± 4 to 8 times a year. Aim to set aside ± one hour per week for this (but any shorter time is also welcome!). Try to choose a fixed time per week. The prayer topics are sent by email, and also by WhatsApp. The full explanation, also about the seven mountains, can be read on the website.
Please register at 247gebed_gerda@telenet.be (Gerda) and let us know for which area(s) you would like to receive prayer information. So that our country may be covered with prayer day and night!
Furthermore, Mahabba organises an annual conference on November 27 (10-16h) in Anderlecht. The goal is to learn how we can be a more fruitful witness to our Muslim neighbours, a.o. by praying for them together. Highly recommended! For all info, click on their website.
If you know of other national prayer initiatives or prayer days, please let us know and we will be happy to announce them. We want to unite all our prayer forces to see this country transformed for the Kingdom of our God.
We wish you God’s richest blessings! Ignace Demaerel, Brussels
Places are chosen for purpose, even if they are covered with concrete for centuries. The land of Belgium has been given a mandate to bring counsel from a place of rest-for kings in the political and the spiritual realm. No wonder the enemy covets this land so much. In this book, the story of the nation of Belgium is put on display. Scrolls are opened and a prophetic call to repentance, healing and restoration is released. After reading this book, you can do nothing but intercede, not only for Belgium, but also for all the nations that gather on Belgian territory. The book has just been released and is avallable on Amazon and other on-line platforms soon.
Endorsed by different leaders for Belgium and abroad. Written by a Belgian. If you have a heart for this country, the book can help you understand the spiritual dynamic of the land better and help you intercede further. For such a time as this…
“The unity of Europe was the dream of a few. It has become the hope of many. Today it is a necessity for everyone. ”
(Konrad Adenauer, one of the founders of the European Union)
INVITATION
The Belgian Christian movements, associations and communities, united in the international network “Together for Europe”, and the Chapel for Europe invite you to the online event: “Unity and Reconciliation”.
This online event will take place on May 8, 2021, between 4:00 PM and 5:30 PM, on the occasion of Europe Day 2021.
Dialogue with Mgr. Delville, Bishop of Liège, “Some aspects of Pope Francis’ encyclical” Fratelli tutti “”
and with Ms. Cindy Franssen, Belgian MEP, “Some key elements to bring about greater fraternity and solidarity in Europe”.
Challenging testimonials, actions taken, music and singing.
A moment of joint prayer. “Together for Europe”, that is …
… Friendship between the movements,
… Commitment to the poor, to the environment, to peace,
… And also in these times of pandemic, an increasingly strong sign of hope
The National Day of Prayer will take place in spite of all the corona situation, albeit in a different form.
Prayer is fortunately not forbidden, and certainly not bound or confined: thanks to modern technology we can even do it on a much larger scale than usual. If we are still locked in, praying is probably the best thing we can do!
So on Saturday April 25th we will have an online prayer session from 10am to 1pm, via zoom. This session will consist of about 12 blocks of 15 minutes, and will be very diverse: Dutch, French and English, old and young, male and female, white and black. Together we will stand in unity for our country.
The theme is: ‘born for such a time as this’ (Esther 4:14). God did not place us in this time and in this country for nothing. Intercessors are like watchmen on the wall. God also has a plan with the corona crisis, and wants to wake up this world. If we handle this well, we will emerge stronger from this crisis!
Please log in on time, because at the beginning we give all the practical instructions, e.g. for translations.
Encourage your friends, even abroad, to participate (it is trilingual). If the timing doesn’t suit you, you can follow this whole session at a later time, both on zoom and on Youtube (via the same link).
Let’s stand up for our country en masse and in unity! And remember: every prayer will end up on God’s ‘desk’ in a golden bowl!
The preparatory committee, Ignace, Frieda, Paul, Donat, Hélène, Esther, Jean & Caro, Yves, Isabelle, Joel, Brecht, Luc, Rabi, Michiel and others
